AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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a taskforce for the formulation of a new National Disability Policy (NDP). The draft
NDP incorporated the views of interested parties and was awaiting review by various
government ministries. The taskforce was charged with the development of a
new NDP that addressed issues of equal opportunity and access for persons with
disabilities.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.—The law governs labor-management relations. Workers
have the legal right to form and join trade unions; however, union membership
was low due to the small percentage of the work force in the formal sector, the lack
of awareness of worker rights and benefits, and a resistance on the part of many
employees to join unions. Army personnel and police could not belong to trade
unions, but other civil servants were allowed to form unions. Union leaders estimated
that 12 percent of the formal sector workforce belonged to unions; however,
accurate statistics on the numbers of union members were not available. Trade
union rights have existed for 9 years, and labor relations still were evolving. Employers,
labor unions, and the Government lacked sufficient knowledge of their legitimate
roles in labor relations and disputes, which limited the effectiveness in the
implementation and enforcement of the law; however the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) charged that trade union rights were also
limited by the resistance of some employers, including the Government, to respect
these rights.
Unions must register with the Registrar of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations
in the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MOLVT). At year’s end,
22 unions were registered. There were no unusually difficult registration procedures.
Unions were independent of the Government, parties, and other political
forces.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers and requires that employers
reinstate workers dismissed because of union activities. However, the
ICFTU 2002 Annual Survey stated that District Education Officers were fired for
their membership in the Teachers’ Union of Malawi. The same survey said companies
in the export processing zones (EPZs) were also resistant to union activity and
that unions said they have little access to workers in the zones. Enforcement of legislation
protecting the freedom of association by the Ministry of Labor was ineffective.
Unions may form or join federations and have the right to affiliate with and participate
in international workers’ organizations, with the permission of the Government.
There were no restrictions on the number of union federations. There were
two federations in the country: The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), with
19 affiliates; and the Congress of Malawi Trade Unions (COMATU), with 3 affiliates.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.—Unions have the right to organize
and bargain collectively. The law requires that at least 20 percent of employees
(excluding senior managerial staff) belong to a union before such a union can
engage in collective bargaining at the enterprise level. The law requires at least 15
percent union membership for collective bargaining at the sector level. The law provides
for the establishment of industrial councils in the absence of collective agreements
for sector-level bargaining. Industrial council functions included wage negotiation,
dispute resolution, and industry-specific labor policy development. The law
was not implemented effectively in practice due to the lack of sufficient knowledge
of the law by employers, trade unions, and government officials (see Section 6.a.).
In 2001 the National Bank of Malawi unilaterally abrogated an agreement with the
Commercial, Industrial and Allied Workers’ Union. Collective agreements were
binding legally, and both parties must deposit them with the Registrar of Trade
Unions.
The law allows members of a registered union to strike or go through a formal
mediation process overseen by the MOLVT. A registered union must attempt to resolve
the issue through mediation. A strike can only occur after all settlement procedures
established in a collective agreement (an understanding, not necessarily
signed, reached by both parties to attempt mediation) and conciliation efforts have
failed. The law requires a notice in writing to the employer and the MOLVT at least
7 days before a strike. The law also forbids the temporary replacement of labor and
allows peaceful picketing during strikes. Members of a registered union in ‘‘essential
services’’ only have a limited right to strike. Essential services were specified as
services whose interruption would endanger the life, health, or personal safety of
the whole or part of the population; they were determined by the Industrial Relations
Court (IRC) upon application by the Minister of Labor. The law provides similar
procedures for lockouts. Laws do not prohibit specifically retaliation against
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